Tomato Sauce
 

Searching the forums I'm not really finding anything where people use tomatoes in recipes very much so I can't figure out if tomato sauce would be ok.

I know it is a restricted food but if you're going to have a restricted food occasionally, wouldn't homemade tomato sauce be ok? I'm not going to have a full two cups of sauce to get in my vegetables, but if I make it from a can of crushed tomatoes (ingredients are tomatoes and tomato paste, is that ok or do I need to just chop up my own tomatoes?) plus other chopped up veggies and spices, could it be counted towards my veggie goal and be the only restricted item I have today?

I was going to make this with the rotini packet and add some beef to the sauce to get towards my protein quota as well. It feels like I'm cheating though so am not sure.

Thanks in advance for answers!

I used it and I lost fine

I make a meat sauce with lean beef and put it over my rotini or zucchini noodles. No problem as long as you don't add sugar or wine to your sauce! I never used sugar, but I miss throwing in the wine - a little for the sauce, a little for the chef LOL

I decided I would make my own tomato paste so I peeled 4 med tomatoes then blended them in my Vita Mix. I poured this onto a baking pan and put into the oven at 200 degrees for several hours. I ended up with only 4 TBLS tomato paste. My point being you are getting a lot more tomato than you think once the water is removed from the tomato so be careful.

Tomatoes, however you choose to use them, are NOT a "restricted" (as in the way a packet/bar is restricted). They are occasional veggies, meaning you can have a 1 cup serving twice per week. You don't have to swap them for a restricted item the day you consume them.

Why did I not think of this?
 

Now I am all jazzed to make tomato sauce and whip up a little ratatouille with my veggies. Thank you!